Member Articles

How do you celebrate Mother's Day? Is it ever really about YOU?

I haven’t been a mom for very long, so I’m still trying to figure out this whole Mother’s Day thing. Is it about me? Is it about the kids? Is it about my mother and mother-in-law? Is breakfast in bed enough, or should I shoot for a full day of luxury pampering?

There’s obviously not one right way to do it, but I’m always curious what kinds of traditions people have for these second-tier holidays. Do you even have a set-in-stone tradition or do you just play it by ear every year? If you do have traditions, whose are they, and do you like them? One mom friend is expected to go to brunch with her in-laws, an event that involves extra travel and child wrangling and various other non-relaxing things for my friend on a day that is, ostensibly, supposed to be about her.

On the other end of the spectrum, I know some moms who ditch their families altogether and spend Mother’s Day at the spa, either alone or with other mom friends. No diapers, no tantrums, no one asking them to actually be Mom for a chunk of hours. When else do you have an iron-tight excuse to do that?

For the past few years, I’ve celebrated Mother’s Day by doing something fun with my family, and not because I’m a magical goddess of parenting selflessness but because spending the day at the zoo or going on a picnic or riding the dinky rides at the local amusement park is likely to make my kids calm and happy, which allows me to feel calm and happy. What makes MOtehr’s Day different from all the other days is that I use that time to really focus on the fun parts of being a mom, without worrying about housework or yardwork or office work. If that involves a chance to sleep in and then breakfast in bed, all the better.

What do you do for Mother’s Day? Does the holiday feel more like it’s about you, your kids, or the other mothers in your life?